Why I chose a gun | Peter van Uhm | TEDxAmsterdam
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0:21 - 0:23Well, ladies and gentlemen,
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0:23 - 0:27thank you for giving me an applause
before I even started. -
0:29 - 0:34As the highest military commander
of the Netherlands, -
0:34 - 0:37with troops stationed around the world,
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0:37 - 0:40I'm really honored to be here today.
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0:42 - 0:46When I look around
this TEDxAmsterdam venue, -
0:46 - 0:49I see a very special audience.
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0:50 - 0:54You are the reason why I said yes
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0:54 - 0:57to the invitation to come here today.
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0:59 - 1:03When I look around, I see people
who want to make a contribution. -
1:04 - 1:08I see people who want
to make a better world, -
1:09 - 1:13by doing groundbreaking scientific work,
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1:13 - 1:15by creating impressive works of art,
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1:17 - 1:21by writing critical articles
or inspiring books, -
1:22 - 1:24by starting up sustainable businesses.
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1:25 - 1:30And you all have chosen
your own instruments -
1:30 - 1:33to fulfill this mission
of creating a better world. -
1:34 - 1:38Some chose the microscope
as their instrument. -
1:39 - 1:41Others chose dancing or painting,
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1:42 - 1:44or making music like we just heard.
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1:44 - 1:46Some chose the pen.
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1:47 - 1:51Others work through
the instrument of money. -
1:51 - 1:55Ladies and gentlemen,
I made a different choice. -
2:09 - 2:11Thanks.
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2:14 - 2:16Ladies and gentlemen ...
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2:17 - 2:20(Laughter)
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2:20 - 2:24(Applause)
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2:26 - 2:28I share your goals.
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2:29 - 2:32I share the goals
of the speakers you heard before. -
2:34 - 2:39I did not choose to take up the pen,
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2:40 - 2:41the brush,
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2:42 - 2:43the camera.
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2:44 - 2:47I chose this instrument.
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2:48 - 2:50I chose the gun.
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2:51 - 2:54For you, and you heard already,
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2:54 - 3:00being so close to this gun
may make you feel uneasy. -
3:00 - 3:03It may even feel scary.
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3:03 - 3:07A real gun at a few feet's distance.
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3:08 - 3:13Let us stop for a moment
and feel this uneasiness. -
3:13 - 3:15You could even hear it.
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3:16 - 3:18Let us cherish the fact
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3:18 - 3:23that probably most of you
have never been close to a gun. -
3:24 - 3:29It means the Netherlands
is a peaceful country. -
3:29 - 3:32The Netherlands is not at war.
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3:33 - 3:37It means soldiers are not needed
to patrol our streets. -
3:38 - 3:42Guns are not a part of our lives.
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3:43 - 3:47In many countries,
it is a different story. -
3:48 - 3:52In many countries,
people are confronted with guns. -
3:52 - 3:54They are oppressed.
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3:54 - 3:56They are intimidated -
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3:57 - 3:58by warlords,
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3:59 - 4:01by terrorists,
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4:01 - 4:03by criminals.
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4:03 - 4:06Weapons can do a lot of harm.
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4:06 - 4:09They are the cause of much distress.
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4:09 - 4:14Why then am I standing before you
with this weapon? -
4:14 - 4:19Why did I choose the gun as my instrument?
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4:20 - 4:22Today I want to tell you why.
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4:23 - 4:24Today I want to tell you
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4:24 - 4:27why I chose the gun
to create a better world. -
4:28 - 4:32And I want to tell you
how this gun can help. -
4:35 - 4:39My story starts in the city of Nijmegen
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4:40 - 4:42in the east of the Netherlands,
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4:42 - 4:45the city where I was born.
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4:47 - 4:51My father was a hardworking baker,
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4:53 - 4:56but when he had finished
work in the bakery, -
4:56 - 4:59he often told me and my brother stories.
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5:00 - 5:02And most of the time,
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5:02 - 5:05he told me this story
I'm going to share with you now. -
5:06 - 5:08The story of what happened
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5:08 - 5:13when he was a conscripted soldier
in the Dutch armed forces -
5:13 - 5:16at the beginning of the Second World War.
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5:17 - 5:19The Nazis invaded the Netherlands.
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5:20 - 5:22Their grim plans were evident.
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5:22 - 5:26They meant to rule by means of repression.
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5:27 - 5:30Diplomacy had failed to stop the Germans.
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5:31 - 5:34Only brute force remained.
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5:34 - 5:37It was our last resort.
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5:38 - 5:41My father was there to provide it.
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5:42 - 5:46As the son of a farmer
who knew how to hunt, -
5:46 - 5:48my father was an excellent marksman.
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5:49 - 5:52When he aimed, he never missed.
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5:53 - 5:56At this decisive moment in Dutch history
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5:56 - 6:01my father was positioned
on the bank of the river Waal -
6:01 - 6:03near the city of Nijmegen.
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6:04 - 6:10He had a clear shot at the German soldiers
who came to occupy a free country, -
6:10 - 6:12his country,
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6:12 - 6:13our country.
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6:14 - 6:17He fired. Nothing happened.
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6:17 - 6:19He fired again.
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6:19 - 6:22No German soldier fell to the ground.
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6:23 - 6:27My father had been given an old gun
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6:27 - 6:31that could not even reach
the opposite riverbank. -
6:32 - 6:34Hitler's troops marched on,
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6:35 - 6:39and there was nothing
my father could do about it. -
6:40 - 6:43Until the day my father died,
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6:43 - 6:46he was frustrated
about missing these shots. -
6:48 - 6:50He could have done something.
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6:50 - 6:52But with an old gun,
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6:52 - 6:55not even the best marksman
in the armed forces -
6:55 - 6:56could have hit the mark.
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6:58 - 7:00So this story stayed with me.
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7:02 - 7:03Then in high school,
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7:03 - 7:07I was gripped by the stories
of the Allied soldiers - -
7:08 - 7:13soldiers who left the safety
of their own homes and risked their lives -
7:13 - 7:15to liberate a country
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7:16 - 7:19and a people that they didn't know.
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7:20 - 7:22They liberated my birth town.
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7:23 - 7:28It was then that I decided
I would take up the gun - -
7:29 - 7:34out of respect and gratitude
for those men and women -
7:34 - 7:36who came to liberate us.
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7:37 - 7:41From the awareness
that sometimes only the gun -
7:42 - 7:46can stand between good and evil.
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7:47 - 7:51And that is why I took up the gun -
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7:51 - 7:53not to shoot,
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7:53 - 7:55not to kill,
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7:55 - 7:56not to destroy,
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7:57 - 8:00but to stop those who would do evil,
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8:01 - 8:03to protect the vulnerable,
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8:04 - 8:06to defend democratic values,
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8:07 - 8:13to stand up for the freedom we have
to talk here today in Amsterdam -
8:13 - 8:16about how we can
make the world a better place. -
8:18 - 8:19Ladies and gentlemen,
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8:19 - 8:24I do not stand here today
to tell you about the glory of weapons. -
8:25 - 8:28I do not like guns.
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8:29 - 8:33And once you have been
under fire yourself, -
8:34 - 8:36it brings home even more clearly
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8:36 - 8:41that a gun is not
some macho instrument to brag about. -
8:42 - 8:44I stand here today
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8:44 - 8:49to tell you about the use of the gun
as an instrument of peace and stability. -
8:52 - 8:56The gun may be one of the most important
instruments of peace and stability -
8:56 - 8:58that we have in this world.
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8:59 - 9:02Now this may sound contradictory to you.
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9:03 - 9:06But not only have I seen with my own eyes
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9:06 - 9:09during my deployments in Lebanon, Sarajevo
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9:09 - 9:13and as the Netherlands' Chief of Defence,
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9:13 - 9:19this is also supported
by cold, hard statistics. -
9:20 - 9:25Violence has declined dramatically
over the last 500 years. -
9:26 - 9:30Despite the pictures
we are shown daily in the news, -
9:31 - 9:36wars between developed countries
are no longer commonplace. -
9:36 - 9:37The murder rate in Europe
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9:37 - 9:41has dropped by a factor of 30
since the Middle Ages. -
9:42 - 9:45And occurrences
of civil war and repression -
9:45 - 9:48have declined since the end
of the Cold War. -
9:49 - 9:54Statistics show that we are living
in a relatively peaceful era. -
9:55 - 9:56Why?
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9:57 - 9:59Why has violence decreased?
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10:00 - 10:02Has the human mind changed?
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10:02 - 10:05Well, we were talking
about the human mind this morning. -
10:05 - 10:09Did we simply lose
our beastly impulses for revenge, -
10:09 - 10:11for violent rituals,
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10:12 - 10:14for pure rage?
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10:15 - 10:17Or is there something else?
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10:18 - 10:22In his latest book,
Harvard professor Steven Pinker - -
10:22 - 10:24and many other thinkers before him -
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10:24 - 10:28concludes that one of the main drivers
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10:29 - 10:31behind less violent societies
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10:31 - 10:34is the spread of the constitutional state
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10:35 - 10:39and the introduction, on a large scale,
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10:39 - 10:43of the state monopoly
on the legitimized use of violence - -
10:44 - 10:49legitimized by a democratically
elected government, -
10:50 - 10:55legitimized by checks and balances
and an independent judicial system. -
10:56 - 10:59In other words, a state monopoly
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10:59 - 11:04that has the use of violence
well under control. -
11:05 - 11:11Such a state monopoly on violence,
first of all, serves as a reassurance. -
11:12 - 11:15It removes the incentive for an arms race
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11:15 - 11:19between potentially hostile groups
in our societies. -
11:20 - 11:23Secondly, the presence of penalties
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11:23 - 11:26that outweigh the benefits
of using violence -
11:26 - 11:29tips the balance even further.
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11:29 - 11:32Abstaining from violence
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11:32 - 11:35becomes more profitable
than starting a war. -
11:36 - 11:41Now nonviolence starts to work
like a flywheel. -
11:42 - 11:44It enhances peace even further.
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11:45 - 11:49Where there is no conflict,
trade flourishes. -
11:50 - 11:54And trade is another important
incentive against violence. -
11:55 - 12:01With trade, there's mutual interdependency
and mutual gain between parties. -
12:02 - 12:07And when there is mutual gain,
both sides stand to lose more -
12:07 - 12:10than they would gain
if they started a war. -
12:11 - 12:16War is simply no longer the best option,
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12:16 - 12:20and that is why violence has decreased.
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12:22 - 12:23This, ladies and gentlemen,
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12:23 - 12:28is the rationale behind the existence
of my armed forces. -
12:29 - 12:34The armed forces implement
the state monopoly on violence. -
12:34 - 12:36We do this in a legitimized way
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12:36 - 12:42only after our democracy
has asked us to do so. -
12:44 - 12:48It is this legitimate,
controlled use of the gun -
12:49 - 12:51that has contributed greatly
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12:51 - 12:56to reducing the statistics of war,
conflict and violence around the globe. -
12:57 - 13:00It is this participation
in peacekeeping missions -
13:00 - 13:04that has led to the resolution
of many civil wars. -
13:05 - 13:10My soldiers use the gun
as an instrument of peace. -
13:12 - 13:16And this is exactly
why failed states are so dangerous. -
13:17 - 13:22Failed states have no legitimized,
democratically controlled use of force. -
13:23 - 13:28Failed states do not know of the gun
as an instrument of peace and stability. -
13:30 - 13:37That is why failed states can drag down
a whole region into chaos and conflict. -
13:38 - 13:41That is why spreading the concept
of the constitutional state -
13:41 - 13:45is such an important aspect
of our foreign missions. -
13:46 - 13:49That is why we are trying
to build a judicial system -
13:49 - 13:52right now in Afghanistan.
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13:53 - 13:57That is why we train
police officers, we train judges, -
13:57 - 14:00we train public prosecutors
around the world. -
14:01 - 14:02And that is why -
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14:02 - 14:06and in the Netherlands,
we are very unique in that - -
14:06 - 14:09that is why the Dutch constitution states
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14:09 - 14:12that one of the main tasks
of the armed forces -
14:12 - 14:17is to uphold and promote
the international rule of law. -
14:20 - 14:21Ladies and gentlemen,
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14:21 - 14:27looking at this gun, we are confronted
with the ugly side of the human mind. -
14:29 - 14:34Every day I hope that politicians,
diplomats, development workers -
14:34 - 14:38can turn conflict into peace
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14:39 - 14:40and threat
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14:40 - 14:42into hope.
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14:43 - 14:47And I hope that one day
armies can be disbanded -
14:47 - 14:50and humans will find a way
of living together -
14:50 - 14:52without violence and oppression.
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14:54 - 14:56But until that day comes,
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14:57 - 15:02we will have to make ideals
and human failure -
15:02 - 15:04meet somewhere in the middle.
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15:05 - 15:10Until that day comes,
I stand for my father -
15:10 - 15:14who tried to shoot the Nazis
with an old gun. -
15:15 - 15:20I stand for my men and women
who are prepared to risk their lives -
15:20 - 15:24for a less violent world for all of us.
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15:25 - 15:30I stand for this soldier
who suffered partial hearing loss -
15:31 - 15:35and sustained permanent
injuries to her leg, -
15:35 - 15:39when she was hit by a rocket
on a mission in Afghanistan. -
15:41 - 15:43Ladies and gentlemen,
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15:43 - 15:47until the day comes
when we can do away with the gun, -
15:48 - 15:51I hope we all agree
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15:51 - 15:55that peace and stability
do not come free of charge. -
15:57 - 16:02It takes hard work,
often behind the scenes. -
16:02 - 16:07It takes good equipment
and well-trained, dedicated soldiers. -
16:08 - 16:13I hope you will support
the efforts of our armed forces -
16:13 - 16:16to train soldiers like this young captain
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16:16 - 16:18and provide her with a good gun,
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16:18 - 16:21instead of the bad gun
my father was given. -
16:22 - 16:27I hope you will support our soldiers
when they are out there, -
16:28 - 16:29when they come home
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16:31 - 16:34and when they are injured
and need our care. -
16:34 - 16:39They put their lives on the line,
for us, for you, -
16:39 - 16:42and we cannot let them down.
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16:43 - 16:47I hope you will respect my soldiers,
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16:47 - 16:50this soldier with this gun.
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16:50 - 16:53Because she wants a better world.
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16:54 - 16:58Because she makes an active
contribution to a better world, -
16:59 - 17:02just like all of us here today.
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17:02 - 17:04Thank you very much.
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17:04 - 17:06(Applause)
- Title:
- Why I chose a gun | Peter van Uhm | TEDxAmsterdam
- Description:
-
Peter van Uhm is the Netherlands’ chief of defense, but that does not mean he is pro-war. At TEDxAmsterdam he explains how his career is one shaped by a love of peace, not a desire for bloodshed -- and why we need armies if we want peace.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 18:00
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for Why I chose a gun | Peter van Uhm | TEDxAmsterdam | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for Why I chose a gun | Peter van Uhm | TEDxAmsterdam | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for Why I chose a gun | Peter van Uhm | TEDxAmsterdam | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for Why I chose a gun | Peter van Uhm | TEDxAmsterdam | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for Why I chose a gun | Peter van Uhm | TEDxAmsterdam |